You could have made these streets brand new, LeBron James. It’s such a pity that neither the Knicks nor Nets could get their act together in 2010 to present a realistic option for LeBron.
Can you imagine LeBron in New York City? The world’s greatest athlete in the world’s greatest city. He would have owned this town, and if you own New York, you own the world.
Instead we have to settle for a couple occasions each year where LeBron graces the Big Apple with his celestial presence, and James has to settle for being a God instead of the God.
As a Knicks fan, it’s a damn shame. We could have made such sweet music together, LeBron.
LeBron James is a transcendent athlete, and New York City is perhaps the best possible home for transcendence. That’s what made the prospect of LeBron coming here so tantalising – New York is a stage worthy of a King, certainly a King James.
However, transcendent LeBron, that dynamic, devastating physical force of controlled athletic mayhem, has been largely unseen in the 2014-15 season. LeBron has not been inflicting pain upon the rim the way he usually does; he is courting it with hushed tones.
To call him tentative would be a stretch, but he’s certainly been more ‘cerebral’ than usual. LeBron has always been godly, but this season his omnipotence has been less powerful and more voyeuristic. His 2014-15 season has lacked Old Testament basketball.
Benevolent, New Testament LeBron was on full display Thursday night in basketball’s mecca Madison Square Garden and then again on Monday night across the bridge at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. On both occasions, the first a tight three-point win over the Knicks and the second a blowout 22-point victory over an undermanned Nets team, LeBron was hell-bent on incorporating every single one of his teammates, always thinking pass first. Scoring often felt like a reluctant last resort.
LeBron James as Rajon Rondo has been an interesting character play, but it won’t be winning any awards. Statistically, LeBron is having his worst season since his rookie year.
Compared to last season, LeBron is down from 56.7 per cent shooting to 46.9 per cent (that’s a lot), down from 37.9 per cent from three to 35 per cent, 27.1 points to 24.6 and 6.9 rebounds to 5.8. The only stat that is up is assists, from 6.4 to 7.9. I wouldn’t say that LeBron is being passive though; it’s more that he’s being aggressively deferential.
As grounded as LeBron has appeared in his rewashed Cleveland jersey, there were still flashes of his downhill, athletic, swallow the court force in the Garden and especially at Barclays. Late in the third quarter Monday night in Brooklyn, LeBron entered God Mode.
It was a big night, with Jay-Z, Beyonce, Prince William and Kate all in the building, and you could sense that LeBron was desperate to give them a show. He started really accelerating in transition, as only he can, showing his impossible juxtaposition of grace and power, appearing as though he was larger than the court and magnetically drawn to the rim.
In an incredible 60-second stretch to finish the third quarter, LeBron made the decision that he was going to end the competitive portion of the game. He did so by throwing three phenomenal passes; two magnificent alley-oops to Tristan Thomson and a remarkable thread the needle pass to Dion Waiters.
More than the passes though, what was so breathtaking was the aura and energy he exuded. LeBron was on. He was pumped up, raring to go, like a sprinter eager to get off the mark. It was spectacular to watch, as LeBron simply became bigger than the game.
The basketball match was secondary; it was just something happening around him. Nothing seemed impossible, it felt like LeBron could do whatever he wanted and everyone would be powerless to stop him. That is greatness, and it was a genuine pleasure to witness in person.
Passages like this, combined with the fact that he is still only 29, suggest to me that LeBron’s decidedly human appearance this season has been due to an informed choice and has not been forced upon him by the cruelties of age or injury.
We know what LeBron is, and so does he, but the Cavs are a team that need figuring out. LeBron could be killing himself every night to guarantee Cleveland the top seed in the East but he can’t beat the Spurs by himself. He needs to see what he has around him and how everything will fit.
Is this team best with Kyrie Irving as the go-to scorer? Can Dion Waiters be Jamal Crawford off the bench? Can Tristan Thompson be a rim protector? Where does Kevin Love fit into all this? These are the questions that will determine whether Cleveland will win a championship, and I think that LeBron realises that putting everyone in the best possible position to find out the answers is more important than him taking over games against Milwaukee in late November.
As fun as it would have been to be in New York City to see LeBron drop 40, it was also amazing watching him in answer-searching distributor mode. LeBron might be the best passer in the NBA and all his passing wizardry was on display in the Big Apple.
By his standards, LeBron had two down nights, but he still put up a 19-12-5 in the Garden and an 18-7-4 in Brooklyn, which is kind of ridiculous. Even in third gear touching on fourth, LeBron James might be the best player in the NBA outside of Louisiana and Oklahoma.
The question is, when he goes into fifth gear in May, will anybody on his team be able to join him? I’m not sure of the answer, but I know that LeBron James is pretty set on finding out.
Ridiculous yet again from the Mavericks star!
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 34 points as Oklahoma overcame a Dallas franchise playoff-record 13 blocks, rallying for a 100-96 victory to even their NBA Western…
As much as fans of the other franchises hate to admit it, there is magic in the NBA air when the New York Knicks…
Corey Williams is being remembered as a one-of-a-kind NBL figure after the former MVP and outspoken commentator lost his fight with cancer. A New…
Sadly, on Thursday the owners of WNBL club the Melbourne Boomers handed back their license which has been transferred to a Geelong-based consortium. The…
The Timberwolves as a franchise have never even made the Finals, but this season's roster has the size and the scoring to trouble the other remaining teams.
